Whereas our ancestors (not of choice) were the first successful
cultivators of the wilds of America, we their descendants feel
ourselves entitled to participate in the blessings of her luxuriant
soil... We will never separate ourselves voluntarily from the
slave population of this country; they are our brethren by the
ties of consanguinity, of suffering and of wrong.

As the number of free blacks living in northern cities increased,
many whites became resentful. After 1800, white hostility toward
black residents grew. Wealthy whites feared vagrancy and crime,
and poor whites resented the competition over jobs. As refugees
fleeing the revolution in St. Domingue flocked into the country,
concern over the influence of potential rebels mounted. This concern
seemed justified by attempted insurrections in the South.

Fourth of July celebrations became the focus of racial hostility
for whites and blacks alike. On July 4, 1804 in Philadelphia,
several hundred young blacks roughed up whites on the streets.
The following year, whites turned on blacks at the celebration
in front of Independence Hall, chasing them away. This trend continued
in subsequent years, effectively barring blacks from participating
in public celebrations of American independence.

Discriminatory legislation began appearing in 1805, calling for
bans on black immigration, or a special tax on black households.
The black community, the Pennsylvania Abolition Society, and the
Society of Friends petitioned the legislature, and the bills failed.

White intolerance of free blacks manifested itself at the national
level with the formation of The American Colonization Society,
founded in 1817 by the Reverend Robert Finley to help free black
people emigrate to Africa. With the assistance in Washington, D.C. of his
brother-in-law Elias B. Caldwell, Clerk of the Supreme Court,
and Francis Scott Key, author of "The Star Spangled Banner,"
he raised the support of prominent white men, who agreed that
sending freed Africans back to Africa would be best for all concerned.
The society gained government support with its 1820 petition to
Congress.

The last census shows the number of free people of color of the United States, and their rapid increase. Supposing them to increase in the same ratio, it will
appear how large a proportion of our population will, in the course of even a few years, consist of persons of that description.

... The least observation shows that this description of persons are not, and cannot be, either useful or happy among us; and many considerations, which
need not be mentioned, prove, beyond dispute, that it is best, for all the parties interested, that there should be a separation...

- The American Colonization Society

The idea of colonization was not new. Since 1787, efforts had
been made to find a home for freed blacks out of America, with
both white and black support. Paul Cuffe, a free black shipping
merchant, was a proponent of colonization. He felt that black
people living in America would never be treated as equals and
would be better off elsewhere. A Quaker convert, Cuffe was inspired
by the idea of bringing Christianity to Africa, and as a merchant
he was interested in establishing trade between Africa and black
American businessmen. In 1811, Cuffe sailed to Sierra Leone, a
British Colony on the west coast of Africa.

James Forten, a prominent black Philadelphian businessman, supported
Cuffe's schemes. Other black leaders, such as Richard Allen and
Absalom Jones, knew only too well the effects of prejudice, and
were interested in colonization.

Soon after its founding, the American Colonization Society contacted
James Forten to help recruit colonists from Philadelphia. On January
15, 1817, black leaders called a meeting at Bethel to discuss
the idea. Almost 3,000 black men packed the church. Forten and
three prominent black ministers, Allen, Jones, and John Gloucester,
spoke in favor of emigrating to Africa. However, when Forten called
for those in favor, not one voice answered. When he called for
those opposed, one tremendous "no" rang out that seemed
"as it would bring down the walls of the building."
As Forten wrote to Paul Cuffe, "there was not one sole [sic]
that was in favor of going to Africa."

Free blacks across the country had varying responses to the question
of colonization. In Richmond, the idea was also rejected, but
Abraham Camp, a free black living in Illinois, a free state that
was nonetheless inhospitable to blacks, embraced the idea, as
his letter to the Secretary of the American Colonization Society
attests.